Good news: This disc of the last two of Beethoven’s five piano
concertos is part of a projected three-disc Beethoven set with
the Minnesota Orchestra and conductor Osmo Vänskä. From the
extraordinary level of expertise and ensemble of this recording,
it’s clear that the partnership of this soloist, conductor and
orchestra is at a level well worth immortalizing in what is
likely to stand with the very finest Beethoven Concerto sets
on disc. Indeed, Sudbin is now partway through a seven-year,
14-album project for BIS; the Beethoven Concerto cycle will
be rounded out by pairing the Concerto No. 3 in C Minor with
Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 24 in the same key. This is a prospect
to entice the ear of the keyboard fan.

Sudbin, who was born in St. Petersburg in 1980 but has lived
in London since 1997, has repeatedly impressed this reviewer
with his recital and concerto appearances in the United States.
His immaculate technique is the foundation for an approach to
music-making that always seems to be questing, considering,
and evolving during every performance. Here, in the opening
statement of the Beethoven Concerto No. 4, Sudbin’s ruminative,
improvisatory lines sound as if they were being composed on
the spot. Same goes for the “Q&A” between the soloist and
orchestra at the opening of the Concerto No. 4’s second movement.

The arpeggios of the Concerto No. 5 emerge with a silky evenness
that never sounds percussive or choppy, but Sudbin can also
command the heroic sonority that this piece requires – with
thrilling results.

Neither as muscular and assertive as Pollini's Emperor
with Karl Böhm (Deutsche Grammophon) nor as stately as Alfred
Brendel's set of the five concertos with James Levine (Philips),
Sudbin takes a more lyrical, songlike approach in playing that
nonetheless has plenty of the required force and energy.

The very good Minnesota Orchestra has a rare rapport with its
music director, and Vänskä is almost rapturously popular with
both the players and the greater community. Here he leads performances
of great energy, crispness and zest. There is careful attention
to details of phrasing, but also an overriding exuberance that
makes these performances sound spontaneous, never merely studied.
Melinda Bargreen

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